For a while, it looked like Eric Cantor was on the same path. As I wrote in my previous VDARE.com column, Cantor has been quietly (and sometimes vocally) supporting Amnesty for some time. Yet, faced with Brat’s challenge, Cantor began sending out campaign mailers stating “Conservative Republican Eric Cantor Is Stopping the Obama Reid Plan to Give Illegal Aliens Amnesty.”

There are 20 million Americans who can't find a full time job. But Eric Cantor wants to give corporations another 20 million foreign workers to hire instead. Eric Cantor doesn't represent you.

Brat is not the first primary challenger to defeat a pro-amnesty incumbent. Jason Chaffetz defeated Chris Cannon in 2008. Although Cannon was a solid conservative on all issues other than immigration and Chaffetz made opposition to amnesty to main focal point of his campaign, the MSM portrayed the defeat as rooted in general dissatisfaction with Washington.

Chaffetz aided this perception by focusing on how he won by promoting conservative principles generally, rather than immigration after his victory. Now Chaffetz supports Amnesty.

However, I would be shocked if Brat became another Chaffetz. He shows a real passion and understanding of the importance of the issue that goes far beyond the usual clichés of “secure the border” and “stop Amnesty” you hear from your average conservative shyster. And although Brat focused on Amnesty, he has expressed support for ending birthright citizenship, ending chain migration and reducing overall legal immigration levels.

I expected the MSM to make similar noises about how the election was just about the Tea Party and dissatisfaction with Washington. However, at least thus far, most news reports acknowledge that Brat made immigration a focus of his campaign and that his victory could kill Amnesty.

But, while Lindsey Graham’s victory in the South Carolina primary is disappointing, no one honestly believes that his championing of Amnesty helped him win. Nor does anyone think that had Cantor been more emphatically in favor of Amnesty he would have defeated Brat.

Though the White House’s spin is expected, Red State’s Eric Erickson’s analysis is more disappointing. He claims that “The media will play up Cantor’s loss by claiming it was about immigration” as opposed to the real reason which was that Cantor antagonized conservatives, and didn’t like the Tea Party. He then goes on and uses the trite tea party complaints about congressional staffers, the GOP “establishment”, and K-Street.[ Why Eric Cantor Lost, June 10, 2014]

Erickson has it backwards.

While Brat portrayed himself as a Tea Partier, and toed the conservative line on most issues, he was able to attract voters because, the amnesty is the ultimate crony Establishment policy: not earmarks or a farm subsidies.

Brat took the usual hollow tea party rhetoric and made it effective by using it against immigration. According to Brat:

Cantor continues to work with multinational corporations to boost the inflow of low-wage guest workers to reduce Virginians' wages and employment opportunities. On this and many other issues - like spending, debt and insider trading — Cantor puts corporations ahead of his constituents and free markets.

Yes, Brat said “free markets,” but this is not the type of rhetoric you normally hear from conservatives.

The battle is not over. As Obamaites gloat, South Carolina voters reelected Lindsey Graham, who has a much worse and consistent record on amnesty than Cantor today. Many of Cantor’s proposed replacements as House Majority Leader, like Paul Ryan, are also worse than him.

The problem is deeper than Eric Cantor. The problem is the cheap labor and Hispandering ideology/greed that dominates the Republican Party. Eric Cantor was one of many symptoms of this disease.